Angelic

Ev ~ 5

The traffic was outrageous. I was almost positive I had never been somewhere so crowded, so loud. It made the nightclubs in Germany feel so... spacious.

I forced my way through the crowd on the sidewalk, thankful I at least knew the way to the New York Institute. As I was stopped at a red light, surrounded by a group of pedestrians, my phone vibrated. I pulled it out of my pocket and answered, getting a few strange glances at younger kids. Why were they staring at me like that? Oh, because I was speaking German, not English. The language was so natural to me I hadn't even realized what I was saying. Luckily, Warner understood English almost as well as I did, but was never taught how to speak it himself.

"Hello?" I said, in actual English this time.

"Why are you speaking English?" He questioned on the other end, still speaking German.

"I'm getting strange looks." I muttered under my breath. "So why are you calling me? Miss me already? Say the world and I'm back home."

"I realized as soon as you left that I forgot to tell you something." He explained.

"It's okay, I already know I'm your favorite apprentice." I assured him.

"Hilarious, Ev." His voice was dry, lacking amusement. "I forgot to tell you why you're being sent to New York."

My heart jumped in my chest. So he did know. I had a feeling the reason was more along the lines of punishment, rather than a free vacation. "Spill."

"You passed your Shadowhunter Trials a year ago." He began. The Trials were a series of test, categorized by different subjects--Language, Combat, Rune Drawing, and Survival Techniques--that every Shadowhunter had to pass before becoming an official Elite. They take it six months before their sixteenth birthday, and a year later they are tested again to see if they would make it in the real world, without the protection of the Wards in the Glass City.

"Is this my test?" I asked. A smile lit up my face, full of excitement.

In front of me, the crosswalk sign said GO and the crowd around me began to cross. I followed.

"Sort of." Warner said. "Your recent behavior is not to the Council's liking, and the Consul and Inquisitor both insist you take a year trip to New York to... clean up your act."

"What?" I practically screamed. The dog next to me barked. The child walking it jumped. "That's not fair!"

"It's only for a little while." He told me. "And then you can come back to Idris and take your final test in Alicante."

"This is so stupid. Why do I have to clean up my act? I've done nothing wrong!" I told him.

"The Council believes only the best of our kind can become Elite. They don't consider a girl who parties four nights out of the week and makes friends with mundanes a serious enough candidate."

"So becoming an Elite means I can't have a good time every now and then?" I questioned, turning left on the sidewalk. "And I can't choose my own friends?"

"I wish I could change their minds, Ev, but you know what they say. The Law is hard but it is the Law."

"Well the Law is stupid." I mumbled, the grand institute now in sight.

"It's also what keeps this world spinning." He pointed out.

"A whole year, huh?" I questioned, making sure I got the details right.

"Correct. Is there a problem with that?"

Only one: I wish I had had longer to say goodbye to Kai.

...

Outside the institute doors, I put my hand on the wood, thinking to myself, my name is Eveline Carstairs, a Shadowhunter and descendant of the Angel Raziel, and I request access--

The doors opened. I stepped inside, clutching the heavy bag that contained all my clothes, a few books, and my favorite weapons. I glanced around--the place was huge. The roof extended for at least thirty feet, disappearing into the sky. The hall was so long, with pictures of who I assumed had run the New York institute at one time or another. Once I rounded the first corner, I stopped, nearly tripping over a kid who looked like seven years old, but wore the scowl of a warrior. He held a small dagger in his hands.

"Who are you?" He asked me, poised and ready for a fight.

"An innocent, I promise." I tried not to laugh. He was so small, yet so fierce, it was adorable.

"You're pretty." He commented, ignoring me. "Too pretty to be human. Are you a demon?"

I smiled, ruffling his hair. He flicked his head back, knocking my arm away. "A demon would have killed you by now."

"Downworlder?" He guessed, sounding more like a student trying to guess the answer to a question rather than someone who was trying to protect his home from possibly being attacked.

I shook my head. "Never. My name is Eveline Carstairs."

He gasped, dropping his dagger and standing up straight again. When he didn't move to pick up his weapon, I reached down to pick it up for him, handing it back to him, the pointed side facing me.

"You're the Elite girl!" He exclaimed. "I've heard stories about you guys. You're so cool!"

I smiled ruefully down at him. "I'm not an Elite yet. I'm still in training." And apparently I'm not taking that seriously enough.

"Why do you talk like that?" He asked innocently.

"Oh, you mean my accent?" I questioned. "I'm from Germany. Most Germans sound like this when they speak English."

"That's awesome!" He exclaimed.

I giggled. "Where is everyone? Or are you guarding this big place all by yourself? It seems like a really big task, even for a brave boy like you."

"My parents run this place." He told me.

Just as he said it, a woman, followed by three teenagers, turned the corner, coming to greet us. I walked over to them, and Max picked up my bag, which I had forgotten about, and carried it over to me. He was so sweet.

I took the strangers in. The woman had perfect olive skin, just like the girl and the black-haired boy behind her. The three of them all shared the same shiny black hair, long and smooth and straight. They were tall, their bodies thick with the sculpted muscle of a typical Shadowhunter body, their tunes poking out the nice clothes they wore. The odd man out was the blond boy, with skin as light as mine, and long, curling hair.

But the sight of them wasn't what made my heart skip. What caused it was the sight of the black-haired boy. I had seen those blue eyes before...

"Kai?" I questioned, not letting myself become too hopeful.

When the three teenagers exchanged confused glances, I wasn't so surprised. Of course he wasn't Kai. Kai was a million miles away, across an entire ocean. And there was no assurance that I would ever see him again.